A bishop from Kirkuk has another perspective:

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, has spoken out against a US initiative to Stopp the possible extinction of Christians from the country. The prelate described as “impossible” American plans to give extra protection to Christians who are now fleeing in droves amid reports of ethnic cleansing. Mgr Sako was responding to an intervention by the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, which has called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to give asylum to the persecuted Christians and create a safe haven for them in the country’s Nineveh plains.

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Sako said: “This is impossible. This could create much more tension than relief for Christians.” Speaking from Iraq, he suggested that the initiative could be divisive for the Christian faithful at a time of increasing anti-US sentiment in Iraq. Archbishop Sako explained: “We have not at all assimilated with the coalition forces. We have nothing to do with them, nor indeed do we have anything to do with the West. We are Christians; we are citizens like everyone else.” He stressed the age-old co-existence and cooperation between the Christian communities and the prevailing Islamic culture.

Mgr Sako reported that the Christian exodus from the south-eastern city of Basra was so far advanced that with barely 200 families left in the region, the local bishop, Mgr Djibrail Kassab, had left the diocese to take up a new post administering to exiled communities in Sydney, Australia. According to the archbishop, the see in Basra is likely to remain vacant and there is only one priest left at work in the diocese. He said: “It is almost the case now that there is no future for the Church in so many parts of the country, including Baghdad, Mosul and Basra.” But he described the situation in his archdiocese of Kirkuk as “calm and quiet.”